shark_factsfandomcom-20200214-history
Whale Shark
Welcome, these are some fun facts about Whale Sharks so sit back and have some fun reading these cool facts : Whale Shark Fact #1. You can safely swim near a whale shark. Whale sharks don’t bite and tear apart their prey. They slurp volumes of water full of plankton. They eat lots of the same food a sponge does— microscopic plant and animals in the sea. Although their mouths are wide, their gullet is small. So, a whale shark couldn’t swallow Jonah! Whale Sharks are laid back and cool. They don’t react much to humans. They lumber on through the water, following the food. When they’ve had enough human company, they ease on down and disappear into the deep. Whale Shark Fact #2: Whale sharks are the biggest sharks in the world. A whale shark can easily reach 40 feet, bigger than a bus, and one was reported to be 59 feet long. One female weighed twelve tons. Whale Shark Fact #3: Whale sharks are the only animal with their checkerboard pattern. Their checkerboard pattern of creamy white spots on blue-gray-taupe background is unique in the animal world. And each whale shark has its own unique arrangement of spots. The pattern may protect them from sunburn. Whale sharks cruise at shallow depths in warm waters, feeding on plankton that need sunlight. Whale Shark Fact #4: Whale sharks have the thickest skin of any animal in the world. Their skin can measure up to six inches thick. It doesn’t mean they are not sensitive! So, it’s important not to touch them. Whale Shark Fact #5: Whale sharks don’t use just their tail for propulsion like most sharks. They sway their whole rear body back and forth. They can travel up to 5 miles per hour and average 15 miles per day. They’re notoriously slow, but one did travel 60 miles in one day. At night, they go deep. As filter feeders, whale sharks strain small plant and animal matter from the water. Filter feeders—like sponges, flamingoes, baleen whales, and brine shrimp—don’t need big scary teeth. Whale Shark Fact #6: Their teeth are very small and not important to feeding. The scientific name of the whale shark means “file-tooth shark”: Rhincodon typus. They have 300 rows of tiny, pointed teeth. Whale Shark Fact #7: The whale shark’s mouth is at the front tip of the head. The whale shark’s broad, flat head is shaped like a wedge, with a mouth that reaches across five or six feet wide. The mouth on most shark species is under the front of their body. Whale Shark Fact #8: Whale sharks use both passive and suction feeding. Like a sponge, whale sharks can passively let plankton-rich water flow through their open mouth. But usually they actively suck in volumes of water, like a vacuum cleaner. Whale Shark Fact #9: They can process up to 1500 cubic gallons of water per hour. The whale shark opens its mouth, expands its jaws and sucks. Then it closes its mouth and water flows out its gills. Whale Shark Fact #10: Gill rakers form a unique sieve-like apparatus found only in whale sharks. Any creature or plant over 2 to 3 millimeters in size is trapped. Usually whale sharks move their heads from side to side, but they also can aggressively swim through schools of prey, frequently turning to stay in the densest patches. Whale Shark Fact #11: Whale sharks eat both floating prey and swimming prey. What do they eat? Microscopic plankton, fish eggs, coral spawn, small schooling fishes, even squids. A whale shark will patiently wait for fish to spawn, so they can eat the eggs. They can estimate how much food is in the water and won’t feed until densities of zooplankton reach 10,000 individuals per cubic meter.